Some recent listener feedback

Shutters Inc

Firstly let me start with reference to something that Bruce had mentioned, I think in episode 137.
You were quite concerned with the audio quality that you were able to present to listeners from the portable recorder used at Echuca, the audio on that episode was fine.
I have recently dabbled with other podcasts, and have since canceled all of the downloads except Shutters Inc.
Bruce the quality of the audio delivered by you leaves all others far behind, keep up the good work.
Thanks for the great pod casts not only in the information passed on but also the technical quality.
Mark ChapmanSine Language

Bruce, I can only say, in my opinion, that the services you are providing are greatly appreciated.
J. R.Building the pod

I've only recently decided to get back into music production after a prolonged absence.
So, when it came to choosing a DAW, it came down to a choice between FL Studio and Audition.
Dollar wise, quite similar although FL Studio does offer more in the way of virtual instruments for this price range.
But I chose Audition for two clear reasons.
1. I really like the look and feel. The layout is just easy on the eye and made sense to me very quickly.
2. I knew I had a great teacher. I discovered Building the Pod through the Adobe web site and soon found Sine Language.
I have to thank you sincerely for your weekly tuition.
It has turned a somewhat severe learning curve into managable bite size pieces.
I simply can't overstate how thankful I am of your weekly podcasts.
Bye for now.
Ross Huntley

May 24, 2009

In ep 125, Shelton continues the ‘going pro’ theme.
This week, both sides of the coin… working with direction (from Art Directors, Graphic Designers etc), and working solo when the client trusts your instinct.
Also, Daryl Gungadoo alerted us to Cooliris. Thanks Daryl!
And the date, which to paraphrase Franklin D. Roosevelt will live in infamy, has been set:
Saturday January 2nd, 2010.
Hopefully, we’ll see some SI fans make it from overseas, to complement the local contingent!
A venue has not been decided upon yet, but the plan is to lock something down soon. As soon as that has happened, you’ll be the first to know about it.

This week, a couple of links from my man in Hollywood:
An article from Sound On Sound magazine on surround sound,
plus this excerpt from the NAB Engineering Handbook on Audio for Digital Television.
Also, another war story for ya!
For anyone who needs help remembering their DAW’s keyboard shotcuts, try Editor’s Keys.
A quick moment of introspection about the quality of my work at ARN,
Jim Weishorn brought the Pleasurize Music Foundation to our attention, including their free Dynamic Range meter.
Then, Felix told us about his home made plate reverb.
He also pointed me to this article on tightenening up your mixes with the aid of a spectrum analyzer.
Which proved a nice link to my final piece…. my newly acquired Genelec 7050B subwoofer.

This week, Shelton narrowly avoids a heart attack after leaving one of his camera bags on site after a shoot,
check out the video of Shelton ripping out “Ain’t no sunshine“,
Bruce, Cathie and Max are off for a 12 night cruise for Christmas,
and who’s up for an end-of-year bash in Melbourne?
Then, Shelton continues the “Going pro” theme….
Knowing what you can (and cannot) deliver when asked to handle a shoot,
Don’t steal another photographer’s client (if you’re asked to fill in),
Jim Rockwell sent us an e-mail regarding doing research before cold calling,
Making something (specifically an image) out of nothing (an uninspiring product or location), which Shelton did this past week shooting water pipes,
Bruce asks about artifical lighting large scale,
and Shelton is loving his new book, Joe McNally’s ‘Hot Shoe Diaries’.

This week, Michael Rooney has finished his new program, AATranslator, which will the allow the import of various other DAW session formats into Audition.
Then, we look at the next item in the ‘Filters and EQ’ section… the graphic EQ.

The graphic EQ in 10 band mode. Each filter covers an octave.

The graphic EQ in 20 band mode. Each filter covers half an octave.

The graphic EQ in 30 band mode. Each filter covers one third of an octave.

The waveform display, after a cut at 8kHz, in 10 band mode. Notice how far the dip extends to the left and right of the centre frequency (it covers a full octave).

The spectral display, after a cut at 8kHz, in 10 band mode. Notice the area of the display which is NOT yellow, but rather orange (signalling a drop in amplitude).

The waveform display, after a cut at 8kHz, in 30 band mode. Notice how far the dip extends to the left and right of the centre frequency (it now only covers a third of an octave).

The spectral display, after a cut at 8kHz, in 30 band mode. Notice how the orange section of the display is shorter, because the amplitude drop is narrower than in 10 band mode.

May 3, 2009

This week, how to find the audio2u.com group on Facebook,
The D5000 launch in Melbourne,Yervant made a pretty awesome video using a combination of stills and video shot on a Canon 5D mkll,
plus Shelton begins a new series on turning your photography hobby in to a profitable venture.
In part 1, how to get into domestic photography.

This week, an apology to Jay for incorrectly identifying him as the author of the e-mail I read out in ep 110,
Jim Weishorn wants to discuss dynamics some more (that’ll have to wait),
a query from Steve Riekeberg at Geek Cred on the voice track processing I use in post-production (see notes at the end of this post),
Mike Wills pointed out the holophone 5.1 microphone,
a couple of people suggested the ‘limited dynamic range’ modes in home AV receivers to combat the wildly varying volume in movies,
Jim Weishorn mentioned this article on using multiple reverbs,
MMIH chimed in with some further input on movie soundtrack mixes, DVD audio, centre speakers etc, including a link to this article from Dolby on setting up home theatre,
Justin confirmed that sound travels FASTER in WARMER air,
plus I discuss the different types of reverbs (plate, spring, digital, convolution).
Oh, and the Speakerphone plugin that MMIH mentioned is made by Audioease.